Thank you for all who had responded. My friend has decided to take the plunge and try the method and test their promises. As they might be the first Canberra resident to attempt this method, I’ll encourage my friend to post the results on RA.

I have OCD agoraphobia and panic attacks along with depression. I’ve tried exposure and CBT. CBT is ok and exposure therapy is great but the best thing that worked for me was ACT. Acceptance and commitment therapy!

I used to go to the west belconnen co-op and their psychologist vic vale introduced me to it and it really does help and work! Remember that medication and therapy can only be successful if the person is ready to be helped.

Ask your GP to put together a mental health plan and refer to the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program. You can get up to six sessions free, plus up to another six in certain circumstances.

Google ATAPS and you’ll get more info.

Good point, I forgot about ATAPS which works in parallel with the Better Access scheme. ATAPS has the advantage of no money changing hands (I think) but less choice of psychologist.

I have OCD agoraphobia and panic attacks along with depression. I’ve tried exposure and CBT. CBT is ok and exposure therapy is great but the best thing that worked for me was ACT. Acceptance and commitment therapy!

I used to go to the west belconnen co-op and their psychologist vic vale introduced me to it and it really does help and work! Remember that medication and therapy can only be successful if the person is ready to be helped.

Ask your GP to put together a mental health plan and refer to the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program. You can get up to six sessions free, plus up to another six in certain circumstances.

There probably are some advantages to an online treatment for anxiety and OCD, especially for people who would have difficulty attending a psychologist. They even offer an App, so you can do stuff on the move!

For some reason the Linden folk and the ASA focused on an endorsement by an academic at Queen’s University Belfast. I was a little curious (you might guess why!) and looked into his credentials. Not good from a psychology perspective, with his expertise being more in the sociology field than psychology field. I would have expected to see a postgraduate qualification in psychology, preferably clinical – he doesn’t have one. What he is doing having his name used, who knows.

So, I would take the Linden Method with a great big pinch of salt.

Not sure what you mean by “local mental health centres” – if you mean the public mental health system, I wouldn’t expect them to provide much of a service for Anxiety and OCD unless it was extremely severe.

Any psychologist in Canberra worth their salt should be able to provide treatment. It should be covered by Medicare, for a number of sessions per year at least. Get a referral from a GP. Phone around or check the Find a Psychologist service on http://www.psychology.org.au and look for a psychologist with Medicare Clinical Psychologist status, as the Medicare rebate is higher and should cover the whole fee. PsychSessions in Civic are one of many possibilities. A few psychologists who have Medicare Clinical Psychologist status don’t have postgraduate qualifications – as a general rule, the more educated someone is in a field, the more expert the will be. So it’s worth asking them about their qualifications.

If aged under 25 Headspace would also be a good bet.

I hope this helps.

IP

I guess the app sucks if your OCD manifests itself by constant fiddling with your phone…

Otherwise if your friend is over 25, here are some groups that may help with low cost support or student (qualified) led therapy that focusses on DBT, ACT or CBTAs someone who has been through a similar experience, these options helped me gain long lasting skills rather than endless talk therapy.

– GROW ACT – a support group, not a clinic, but not about medicalising illness
– UC Clinic – student led clinic
– ANU Clinic– the ANU’s version

Beacon is a good online tool for online psychology tools, and DBT self help is also an excellent site.

There probably are some advantages to an online treatment for anxiety and OCD, especially for people who would have difficulty attending a psychologist. They even offer an App, so you can do stuff on the move!

For some reason the Linden folk and the ASA focused on an endorsement by an academic at Queen’s University Belfast. I was a little curious (you might guess why!) and looked into his credentials. Not good from a psychology perspective, with his expertise being more in the sociology field than psychology field. I would have expected to see a postgraduate qualification in psychology, preferably clinical – he doesn’t have one. What he is doing having his name used, who knows.

So, I would take the Linden Method with a great big pinch of salt.

Not sure what you mean by “local mental health centres” – if you mean the public mental health system, I wouldn’t expect them to provide much of a service for Anxiety and OCD unless it was extremely severe.

Any psychologist in Canberra worth their salt should be able to provide treatment. It should be covered by Medicare, for a number of sessions per year at least. Get a referral from a GP. Phone around or check the Find a Psychologist service on http://www.psychology.org.au and look for a psychologist with Medicare Clinical Psychologist status, as the Medicare rebate is higher and should cover the whole fee. PsychSessions in Civic are one of many possibilities. A few psychologists who have Medicare Clinical Psychologist status don’t have postgraduate qualifications – as a general rule, the more educated someone is in a field, the more expert the will be. So it’s worth asking them about their qualifications.